


Bereft

by MightyYawp



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Crying, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Original Percival Graves Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-02
Updated: 2017-06-12
Packaged: 2018-10-13 20:15:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10521048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MightyYawp/pseuds/MightyYawp
Summary: Newt is scrambling after his runaway friend that he happens to hear someone quietly crying. To Newt's shock, and then deep concern, when he finds the source of the weeping it is none other than Percival, the real Percival.





	1. Loss

**Author's Note:**

> For this prompt:
> 
> Percival is back at work and outwardly he seems fine, still the strict and stoic boss everyone knows. Newt returns to New York and while he's waiting for Tina at MACUSA to be properly introduced to Percival, the Niffler or Pickett runs off to some secluded area. It's while Newt is scrambling after his runaway friend that he happens to hear someone quietly crying. To Newt's shock, and then deep concern, when he finds the source of the weeping it is none other than Percival, the real Percival. 
> 
> Newt being his empathetic self asks Percival what's wrong and comes closer. Percival wants to pull himself together, but he just can't. So, with tears still streaming down his face, he reveals to Newt that just that morning, while he was going through his house, he finally found either his missing house elf or his beloved pet long dead and decayed. Turns out Grindelwald in his infinite cruelty had locked the elf or animal away and let the poor thing starve to death. Percival says he buried his friend in the garden just hours earlier with a heart made of stone, and he had come to work just fine only now he just can't stop seeing the state of his friend and falling apart. Newt can't bare to see such pain and simply throws himself around Percival in a rib bending hug. Somewhere along the way the Niffler or Pickett comes and joins in, offering Percival comfort. It's when he sees Percival tenderly shower some affection back at the Niffler or Pickett that he falls head over heels and also introduced himself to the real Percival Graves.

Newt had *thought* the latches on his case were finally fixed. He’d tested them himself! Not even the sneakiest niffler should have been able to get out. Well, that could only mean that Horace, his niffler was sneakier than he’d imagined. Truthfully, Newt did love the little guy despite his kleptomania. He just wished he’d stop breaking out when they were at MACUSA. 

He chased after Horace down another seemingly abandoned hallway. MACUSA was probably three times bigger than it needed to be. He caught sight of a fuzzy, waddling tail disappearing under a door when a quiet sound brought him up short. He stayed absolutely still until he heard it again.

Someone was… crying? It was a quiet, broken off sound like the person was attempting to suppress their tears and Newt’s heart just went out to whoever it was. He cautiously follows the sound, not sure if he should intrude or not yet. Creeping down the hall he came to a door that was slightly ajar, and heard the soft crying coming from inside. He pushed the door open and peered inside.

It was Director Graves. Probably the last person Newt expected to find weeping in an abandoned room, deep in the bowels of MACUSA. The Director had been back at work for a few days now, recently released from the hospital, and still healing a bit. The man was a little too thin, a little too pale, there were dark circles under his eyes, but had insisted on returning to work. No one was willing to argue with him when their own guilt at not noticing his replacement kept them all keeping their distance and walking on eggshells.

So why was he here? Hiding and obviously badly distressed? Newt couldn’t just leave him here, not after everything that had happened to him. So he slipped into the room and crouched in front of Percival where he was huddled against the wall. He had his knees drawn up and face buried in his arms, probably trying to suppress the little broken sounds he was making.

“Mr. Graves?”

Newt regretting speaking as soon as the words were out of his mouth. The distraught man flinched back so badly Newt was afraid he’d injured himself against the wall. He brought his head up to stare at Newt. He was even paler than usual, eyes red-rimmed and cheeks damp with tears. His usually immaculate hair was tousled, like he’d been running his hands through it.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. But… something is obviously weighing on you. Maybe talking about it will help?”

Newt waited patiently, watching the emotions flit across Percival’s face. It was heartbreaking watching the man try to pull on his usual stoic mask and utterly failing as more tears started to escape.

“I… I’ve been c-cleaning my house, making sure Grindelwald d-didn’t leave me any surprises. Last night I…”

Newt was having a very hard time not drawing this poor man into a hug as he waited for him to find the words. 

“I found Leewin, my c-cat. H-he had b-been locked in a r-r-room and just l-left there! He s-starved to d-death.”

A sob tore it’s way out of Percival and he buried his face in his arms again. 

“I f-found his remains c-curled up in one of m-m-my old shirts.”

Alright, that was all Newt could take. He moved to sit besides the now openly sobbing man and pulled him almost into his lap as he wrapped his arms around him in a fierce hug. He had tears pricking in his own eyes. Newt almost missed the niffler creeping into the room but he definitely noticed when Horace climbed into Percival’s lap, cuddling up to the distraught man.

After a few minutes his sobs quieted down and Percival continued, idly stroking Horace’s soft fur while remaining huddled in Newt’s arms.

“I buried him this morning and I thought… I thought I would be f-fine to work, keep my mind off it but that obviously didn’t work. I k-keep seeing Leewin, curled up in m-my shirt.”

Another sob tore its way out of his throat.

“Oh, Percival, I’m so sorry.”

He can only pull Percival closer and offer him what poor comfort he can. They sit there for long minutes. At some point, Pickett climbs out of his pocket and after studying this new human closely walks over to Percival’s shoulder and cuddles up against his cheek, chirping and cooing softly. 

Newt doesn’t know how long it takes for Percival to calm, but he doesn’t begrudge the man a second. He was mourning his friend and while some people may have thought Leewin to just be a cat, Newt knew better. One didn’t have to be human to be a dear friend. Newt estimated it was nearly an hour when Percival pulled away just enough to look down at Horace in his lap.

“This is your Niffler that caused so much trouble?”

Newt was happy to talk about any of his creatures, especially if it got Percival’s mind off his loss for a little while. 

“Yes, this is Horace, the little rascal. Hopelessly drawn to shiny things, whether they are his to have or not.”

Percival slumped back against Newt as he fished in his pocket for a minute before pulling out a few shiny coins. He handed them to Horace who looked up at Percival like he was Magic itself. After quickly stuffing the coins in his pocket he cuddled up to Percival, stubby little tail wagging like crazy.

“Well, you just made a friend for life.” Newt almost kissed this man then and there. But this was neither the time nor the place, no matter how much his heart fluttered watching Percival shower affection on Horace, one of his creatures who least often found welcome.

Pickett seemed to approve as well as he nuzzled his little face against Percival’s cheek. Oh, Newt was doomed. Pickett liked Percival. But Newt’s blossoming feelings could wait.

“I don’t even know your name.”

Newt blushed a bit. “Oh, where are my manners. I am Newt Scamander, magizoologist, at your service. Now, I think it would be best for you to head home for the rest of the day and think about maybe taking a few more days before coming back to work. I know there is a rather large pile of paperwork waiting for you, Tina has been complaining about it for days, but it can wait.”

Newt helped Percival to his feet, keeping an arm wrapped around his waist as he stumbled, legs weak from being huddled up for so long. In a few days he might act on the feelings that curled in his chest when the older man leaned into him but for now he’d help Percival get home and ensure he ate something before he got some sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think they're horribly out of character...

Newt hoped that Percival would take his advice and take a few days off but he didn’t expect it. He understood what the older wizard was trying to do, distract himself from his pain and loss with work. But he needed to mourn both his poor Leewin and everything that had happened to him. It probably didn’t help that everyone in the building was avoiding him. 

But Newt didn’t have the guilt complex the rest of MACUSA had developed and Newt secretly thought they deserved, just a little. So he took some time to make a plan, not unlike when he had a newly rescued creature to look after. It started with befriending Percival, getting the man to open up to him. Newt fully expected a bit of a step backwards. The Director was a proud man and having been found in the state he was yesterday would have him throwing up walls faster than Horace could pinch a bauble.

Bribery always worked well. And the older wizard was still looking gaunt from his captivity so Newt stopped at Jacob’s bakery and bought the largest box of fancy pastries he could carry. Muggle money was a funny thing with bits of paper that all looked so similar having different values so he was glad Jacob’s memory had been jogged by meeting Queenie. Apparently handing over a few hundred dollars for a box of pastries was overkill. Who knew?

He arrived at MACUSA fairly early. Newt wanted to leave the pastries on Percival’s desk for the man to find when he arrived. There weren’t many people in the building yet, just the overnight staff packing up to leave. He nodded to the few people he recognized and made his way to Percival’s office.

The door was open. Which meant Percival was already here. Newt frowned to himself, he could already feel his protective instincts surging, the need to care and comfort had always been a core part of who he was.

But he didn’t want to scare Percival away. So he fought down those instincts and forced himself to knock casually on the door frame. The sharp sound startled a flinch from the man hunched over his desk and he glanced up.

If anything, Percival looked worse than yesterday. The dark smudges under his eyes were worse, his skin was paler and Newt caught the trembling in his hands before he dropped them to his lap.

“Mr. Scamander, how can I help you?”

Newt gave a swift, easy smile, not meeting the man’s eyes. “Please, call me Newt. I stopped by an excellent bakery this morning and figured I’d bring enough to share. Would you like something?”

Newt placed the box on his desk and opened it, filling the room with the scent of lovingly prepared pastry. Percival glanced at the magical creatures made of dough and sugar and raised an eyebrow. 

“Is there something I should know about this bakery?”

“Just that it is the best in the city. Now, I recommend the demiguise if you have a sweet tooth. Or the niffler if you prefer something more savory.”

Percival sat back in his chair, leaving the box out of reach. “That’s very kind of you, Newt, but I’ll pass. Bring them to the bullpen, the aurors will worship the ground you walk on if you feed them.”

Newt considered letting this go for a moment. But he was closer to Percival now and being able to see the state he was in better just made him more worried. He moved around to the other side of the desk and leaned against it.

Keeping his voice soft and gentle, he spoke, “Percival, have you eaten today?”

The older wizard stared at him for a moment before dropping his gaze and shaking his head. Newt placed a careful hand on his shoulder, feeling the tremors running through him.

“Did you eat last night? Or at all yesterday?”

Percival turned his face away and didn’t answer. Newt shifted a little closer and used his free hand to gently turn Percival back to face him.

“I’m sorry if I’m overstepping right now, but I am worried about you. You’re still recovering and yesterday didn’t help. While I may not be a healer I know you need to eat more often than once every three days.”

Newt ended with a wry smile. “Now, I’m not one to talk. When I’m busy with a new creature I forget to eat and sleep. But I have a rather protective demiguise who is not afraid to put the food directly in my mouth if I fail to listen to him.”

He raised his own eyebrow at Percival, hoping the man would get the implication that he wasn’t above resorting to that or at least setting Dougal on him when he felt the tension run out of the older wizard’s frame and he slouched in his chair.

“You suggested a niffler?”

Newt smiled widely and nodded, removing his hand from Percival’s face so he could drag the box of pastries closer. He kept his other on the poor man’s shoulder, rubbing comfortingly since Percival didn’t seem to mind the contact. 

While Percival slowly ate Newt chatted idly about his creatures, sticking with the more ridiculous stories and even startling a smile or two from Percival. When the last of the niffler was gone Percival sat back and Newt allowed his hand to fall back to his side.

“Alright, you’ve fed me. Now I’m sure you have better things to do with your time than watch me fill in paperwork.”

“Hmm… Perhaps. But either way I’ll leave you in peace and go ensure your auror’s everlasting devotion to me.”

Newt left a demiguise and an erumpent on the corner of Percival’s desk before heading out. He spent the rest of the morning working with the healers on some of the helpful properties of various creatures he had discovered all the while wondering how Percival was doing.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have two cats and I imagine I would be just as much a mess if one passed away.

The answer was not well. The paperwork was mindless and utterly failed to keep his mind off the pain he still felt. But at least he hadn’t burst into tears today. And Mr. Scamander had the good grace to not mention his breakdown the previous day. But he could feel the grief trying to break out again and overwhelm him.

But he was an auror, damn it. He had work to do. So he tried to concentrate on whatever form he needed to fill out in triplicate and hoped he’d at least make a dent in the mountain of paper steadily growing on his desk. As usual, he was left alone. There were no active operations right now so there was no need for briefings. His aurors were all involved in either feeling out new cases, mopping up the mess Grindelwald left, or searching out his followers.

Lunchtime came and went and he kept working until a pastry erumpent charged his hand. He froze, staring down at the animated confection before glancing up and finding Newt standing in the doorway, wand out and directing the erumpent’s actions.

“You haven’t eaten lunch, Percival, and it’s gone past 3pm.”

He had not realized it was that late. Oops.

“Now, I know you’ve been here since before 6am, I checked with Red. So that means you’ve already put in a full days work and then some. I have finished everything needed of me today. So may I suggest we head out, get something to eat, and then I can help you clear your house of any surprises left behind. If you want, that is.”

The pastry erumpent did a loop around his desk and charged his hand again and now the demiguise was climbing his arm like a tree. He sighed.

“You’re just going to annoy me until I agree, aren’t you?”

Newt grinned. “Theseus always said I had a talent at that.”

Truthfully, Percival was desperate to leave. The grief was still there mixed with fear and despair, just below the surface and being alone all day hadn’t helped. If Newt was serious about his offer, he wouldn’t turn down some company this afternoon. So he agree, cleaned up his desk, and they left.

He was forbidden from any magic as complicated as apparating for now so they walked, stopping at a cafe down the street for a late lunch. Given the hour, the place was fairly empty which was fine with Percival. The hypervigilance only really manifested when he was in public but it was exhausting trying to be aware of everything going on around him.

After lunch Percival brought Newt to his house and realized Newt would be the first person he invited inside since Grindelwald had been there. Oh, there had been a team of aurors picking over the place for dark magic but they hadn’t needed to go inside for that. They had scanned the place and deemed it sound enough.

That didn’t mean Grindelwald hadn’t hidden something there. 

But it was too late to turn back so Percival let Newt inside and tried not to be too self-conscious of the state of the place. It wasn’t dirty, but it was oddly cluttered as he pulled out every item from it’s place and cleaned it of any traces of dark magic. It was exhausting and time consuming but it kept him busy on those nights he couldn’t sleep. Which was every night.

Newt, to his credit, didn’t say a word. He just set his case in a clear corner, draped his coat over the back of a chair and rolled up his sleeves. Turning to Percival, he offered him a wide smile.

“Alright, then, where do we start? I should mention that Pickett here would like to help as well as he’s rather skilled at picking up on hidden magic.”

They worked together rather well. Newt caught on fairly quickly that Percival’s healing injuries bothered him a bit more than he was willing to let on so he took care of carrying the objects to the main room while Percival scanned and scoured them with magic. Newt didn’t plan on letting him do even that much for more than a few hours. It might be magic but it still took energy. Pickett sat on Percival’s shoulder, chirping at him happily as he used his own magical senses to check out each object.

After a couple hours Newt decided it was both time for a break, and to try to help his new friend.

“Is this the room?”

Percival froze, knowing exactly what Newt was talking about.

“You haven’t even looked at the door in the past two hours. We’ve been scouring the rest of the house but that door you’ve avoided. Do you want me to go in and clean up in there?”

Percival wouldn’t look at him but Newt thought he caught the shine of tears in the corner of his eyes and a trembling in his hands. Pickett cooed quietly and cuddled up against his cheek. Newt waited, patiently, until Percival turned back to him.

“You… you don’t have to but…”

“I’d be happy to, Percival. It’s up to you if you want to stay here or come help.”

Percival didn’t move, staying pressed in the corner of the couch. Newt went to the room and entered, seeing the sad sight for himself. While Leewin’s remains had already been buried, Percival hadn’t touched anything else. The shirt the cat had been curled up on was still there on the floor. He had used a far corner to relieve himself in, the waste still there, dried out and barely smelling. There were scratch marks on the door and window frames and Newt’s heart hurt imagining the poor dear trying to get out as he slowly starved to death. 

He cleaned the room with a series of spells, fixed the door and window, scourgified the shirt and left the room with it.

Newt sat on the couch next to Percival, wrapping an arm around him and holding out the shirt. “I didn’t know if you’d want this.”

Percival took it with a trembling hand and clutched it to his chest. While he somehow managed to keep from completely breaking down again, a few tears escaped and he didn’t resist when Newt pulled him against his side.

They sat together for a while until Newt felt Percival calm down.

“Sorry…”

Newt hushed him gently. “Nothing to be sorry for, Percival. Now, I think you’re a little beyond tired. Why don’t you take a nap for a little while? I can tend to my creatures and keep working on this and when you wake up we can have some dinner.”

Having Newt here while he slept was a surprisingly comforting thought so he didn’t argue as the younger wizard eased him down to lay on the couch. He was half asleep as Newt was pulling off his shoes and only vaguely aware of Pickett curling up in his hair as Newt covered him with a blanket. He drifted off to sleep holding the shirt to his chest.


	4. Chapter 4

It was the first real sleep he’d gotten since Grindelwald had taken him. If he had nightmares he was too tired to remember them and he stayed asleep for three whole hours before some delicious smell woke him. He struggled upright, trying to rub the sleep from his eyes while keeping a tight grip on the shirt. Pickett climbed onto his shoulder and cooed at him a little.

Newt, looking over at just the right moment, almost melted.

He managed to control himself enough to avoid blurting out declarations of eternal devotion but only just. “Dinner’s just about ready, Percival. I made a dent on some more items. I don’t think we have that much left.”

Percival managed to lever himself off the couch and made it to the table without falling on his face, shirt still clutched in one hand. Newt caught with an arm around his waist as he stumbled and helped him into a chair before setting a large bowl in front of him. He stared at it blankly for a few moments before Newt touched his shoulder and got his attention. 

“Still waking up?” Newt moved his hand to rub gently along his shoulders and Percival leaned sideways, resting against the younger man. He’d be mortified if he was more awake. 

But Newt didn’t seem to mind, just kept him upright and waited for Percival to wake up a little more.

“Sorry…” Percival mumbled.

“It’s alright. I know you’re worn out, just eat what you can and you can go back to sleep.”

He managed to pull himself upright, immediately missing Newt’s warmth but he managed to eat almost half the bowl of thick, rich soup before he felt himself starting to nod off again. Newt just smiled at him gently and helped him up and back to the couch. He got Percival settled again, and he was asleep in moments. 

Newt smiled sadly at the sleeping wizard as he covered him with a blanket. He’d wanted to add some Dreamless Sleep to the soup but he’d never dose someone without their knowledge. He just hoped Percival was tired enough to sleep through the night. He was clearly exhausted and Newt could imagine the sorts of nightmares that haunted him after what Grindelwald had done.

And he was still gripping that shirt. Newt didn’t even think the poor man realized how tightly he was clinging to it. Pickett was showing no intentions of leaving him either and Newt couldn’t say he disapproved. He was glad the little bowtruckle like Percival. Maybe it would help ease the man’s sorrow if Newt introduced a couple more of his creatures, Dougal for sure, maybe the niffler or one of the mooncalves as well.

So before he continued with his cleaning, he went down into the case to find Dougal. The demiguise was feeding the baby occamies and looked up happily when Newt arrived, giving the wizard a hug.

“Dougal, I have a new charge for you if you’re willing. Remember me telling you about Percival? Would you keep an eye on him while I work?”

He saw the demiguise’s eyes go brilliant blue before he nodded, took Newt’s hand, and led him out of the case. Dougal didn’t waste any time, just climbed onto the couch and curled up against Percival, long arms wrapped around the wizard as he cooed.

Good. Maybe with Dougal’s help he could convince Percival not to go into work tomorrow. It was Friday, he _should_ have the next two days off but he knew from some of the aurors that Percival usually worked through the weekend. Newt couldn’t really fault him for his dedication, he knew all about throwing yourself head first into your work and not having other people understand but right now he had his health to consider. 

Newt had been watching him and he wasn’t anywhere near as healed as he’d like everyone to think. And over the course of their cleaning he’d accidentally come across the alarmingly large number of potions Percival was taking right now. If he was still on Blood Replenishing then he should be in a hospital, not back at work.

At least Newt could help with this. He was used to caring for ornery, injured creatures. If he could nurse a badly injured nundu back to health, he was willing to try to help Percival. First thing he could do, finish the cleaning and checking for left over dark spells so the healing wizard didn’t have to worry about it any more. Newt could just imagine him putting in an extra-long day at work just to come home and spending more hours working there. 

So Newt got back to his task, sorting through Percival’s things, leaving anything that could be personal for the older wizard to go through himself later. By the time he was ready for bed himself, he had finished about half of what was left. A few more days of this and Percival could rest easy here. Although it might be a good idea for the man to move anyways. This apartment may just hold too many bad memories in the end.

Percival was still asleep on the couch and Dougal looked content, dozing there with him so Newt climbed down into the case to sleep, making sure to leave the case in Percival’s line of sight so he would see it when he woke. 

He was woken up by Pickett tugging at his hair. 

He couldn’t have been asleep for more than a couple hours and looking at the clock he saw that it was the middle of the night. If Pickett was here looking for a snack Newt would be having words with the little bowtruckle. But he seemed sincere and worried and Newt could finally make out from his panicked squeaks that Percival needed his help.

The poor man was trapped in a nightmare. A violent, painful looking nightmare. A night terror. Dougal was standing beside the couch, looking on helplessly. Well. This was to be expected really. 

Newt perched on the edge of the couch and laid his hand gently on Percival’s shoulder. The man was shaking, face screwed up in pain and fear and very pale. His arms were wrapped around his own torso, squeezing so hard Newt was afraid he’d hurt himself. He flinched when Newt touched him.

“Percival, easy there. I’ve got you. You’re alright. You’re safe. This is just a bad dream.”

Newt kept his touch gently, rubbing circled on Percival’s back and he spoke softly, trying to draw the man out of his nightmare. Ideally, he would do so without even waking him up, letting him sink back asleep and get some much needed rest. 

It didn’t work out quite like that. After a few minutes Percival stiffened and woke with a sob. Now Newt could pull him into his arms and comfort him, much he had the other day in the bowels of MACUSA. He held Percival close, still speaking softly until he felt the older wizard’s shaking ease.

“Are you with me now, Percival?”

The older man nodded but to Newt’s surprise, he didn’t pull away. Newt didn’t mind, he just got the two of them settled more comfortably on the couch. But what to do now? He was much better at comforting distressed creatures. Humans were complicated and he was worried he’d do the wrong thing and make matters worse.

It was Dougal who helped him in the end. The demiguise gently pushed and pulled at Newt until he was lying down on the couch with Percival curled up between him and the back of the couch. The older wizard was clinging to Newt, huddled against him and it seemed like he was trying to hide. Newt just pulled him closer as Dougal laid a blanket over them and Pickett climbed up to nest in Percival’s hair.

Well, Percival hadn’t had any nightmares when he had been around when he slept before. Maybe he just needed some company. And the poor man was exhausted, if staying close helped him sleep, Newt was happy to be of assistance.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What? A chapter? Took me long enough.

That night was… rough. Percival was plagued by nightmares and Newt quickly deduced why he hadn’t been sleeping. If every night was filled with so many tortured dreams it was no wonder the man avoided sleep. And having seen all the potions he was taking, Newt understood why he wasn’t already addicted to Dreamless Sleep. It interacted badly with a number of the potions in his cabinet.

Speaking of which, Percival hadn’t actually taken any of those potions last night. At this point Newt wouldn’t be surprised to find out Percival was neglecting himself in this as well. The poor man needed someone to look after him.

Newt did manage to soothe Percival back to sleep after each nightmare and by the time they woke for the day he was happy to see Percival looking a little bit more well rested. 

“Good morning, Percival. I need to feed my creatures, do you want to stay here with Dougal while I take care of that?”

While Percival seemed hesitant to release Newt, he also didn’t seem to want to move from the couch. Newt slid off the couch, careful to avoid jarring Percival’s injuries. He noticed the shirt carefully folded on the table. Percival must have finally released it sometime during one of his nightmares and Dougal had taken care of it. He’d really have to give the demiguise some special treats today. With that in mind, Newt climbed down into the case to take care of his morning routine.

Percival hadn’t moved by the time Newt got back, still curled up on the couch, pressed into the back, with Dougal cuddled up against him, petting Percival’s hair. Every instinct in Newt was screaming at him that Percival was hurt, and hurt badly, and he didn’t think it was the emotional and mental wounds that were worrying him. He thought back to the cabinet of potions and went and fetched them, spreading them out on the coffee table while Newt perched on the edge of the couch in front of Percival.

He took his time cataloging them, growing more alarmed with each one. Why had they even let Percival out of the hospital? There were instructions printed on each bottle and he’d missed several doses that Newt was aware of and probably more that he wasn’t. Percival was awake, but didn’t say anything until Newt had measured out all the doses he was supposed to take today and turned to his self-appointed charge.

“Do you think you’re up to taking some of these potions this morning, Percival?”

The injured man shrugged and pushed himself upright before slumping against Newt’s side. “I think I’m supposed to take some of them with food.”

“That you are. Just give me a moment and I’ll have some breakfast ready for us.” Newt was glad he had familiarized himself with Percival’s kitchen last night because that meant he could set breakfast to preparing itself with a wave of his wand. He handed Percival a few of the small cups of potion that were meant to be taken on an empty stomach and helped him drink.

It wasn’t until they had eaten breakfast and Percival had taken all his potions that Newt asked the question that had been burning on his tongue all morning. “Percival, why haven’t you been taking all these?”

They were back on the couch and Percival folded in on himself, seemingly trying to hide in the cushions. “I… There are so many and the side effects… The side effects add up. I’m either nauseous or half asleep or feel even weaker than I already am.”

Ah, that made sense. Percival was alone and to feel vulnerable after all the trauma he’d experienced… Well, Newt could understand why he avoided anything that made that worse. After spending a day with Percival Newt was starting to understand just how the poor man was hurt.

“Does it help to have someone here?”

Percival flinched and Newt could almost see the shame rolling off him. What, exactly, had his life been before this that needing to rely on someone caused such humiliation? It was becoming harder with every day knowing this man not to bundle him down into his case to lavish comfort and care on. But Percival wasn’t a traumatized creature Newt had rescued, he was a traumatized person, badly traumatized, so he simply wrapped an arm around him and pulled him close.

“You know, while the Goldsteins have been quite hospitable, their landlady would be quite cross with them if she caught me there. I’ve been meaning to find a new place to stay in New York but just haven’t gotten around to it. If my being here helps, I’m happy to stay, Percival.”

The older man let out a noise that sounded suspiciously like a sob. “I’m a grown man, an auror! Dammit, I shouldn’t need…”

Newt pulled Percival into his arms and hushed him gently. “Shhh… You need what you need, Percival. And right now, if you need a friend, there’s no shame in that. And I am happy to be that friend.”

Percival was trying very hard not to break down in tears for the third day in a row on Newt’s shoulder. His battered dignity wouldn’t survive much more. He was horrified with himself and his lack of control over the past few days. A Graves doesn’t allow his emotion to control him, his father had drilled that into his head from as early as he could remember. Oh, if that old bastard could see him now he’d probably be disowned in a heartbeat, last of the line or not.

But he hurt and his heart ached and the side effects of the potions were starting to creep in. He was miserable already, he didn’t think he could handle being alone as well. “S-stay… Please, please don’t l-leave.”

“Oh, dear one, of course. Of course I’ll stay.”


	6. Chapter 6

Newt learned a lot about Percival over the next couple days. He lost his appetite when he was tired and had to be coaxed to eat. He had never had a proper cup of tea and it turned out he loved it after Newt had convinced him to try some. He slept curled up in as small a ball as he could manage when he was alone. He never spoke of his family or any friends. He would do anything for his aurors and was loyal to a fault. He blamed himself too much, worked too hard, and had absolutely no sense of self preservation. When it came to work, he was brilliant and confident. When it came to his personal life… not so much. In fact, it seemed Percival thought all he could offer the world was his work and his own happiness didn’t matter.

It didn’t take long for Newt to figure out where most of this skewed world view came from. It was a good thing Percival’s parents were gone because Newt may have done something brash otherwise.

Everything he learned made Newt a little angry at Percival’s colleagues but also made him understand a bit more how Grindelwald had been able to fool them all. Percival had spent his life keeping anything personal carefully tucked away from anyone else. Now, however, he was just too tired to keep everything so locked up and a lifetime of loneliness was seeping out. 

Luckily for him, Newt had an entire case full of creatures in addition to himself, who all seemed quite happy to offer comfort and care to the poor man. Newt was fairly sure he’d been running on nothing but sheer stubbornness. Now that he had stopped pushing himself and let Newt start looking after him he spent most of the day dozing, curled up on his couch. Newt had brought up a few more creatures, the occamies, a few puffskein, and Horace. It was just as well he didn’t have an kneazles at the moment. That would probably have just been too similar to poor Leewin.

So Newt cooked, made sure Percival ate and took his potions, finished checking the house for dark magic and comforted the older wizard. There were always at least two creatures cuddled up with Percival at any time and during the brief time Newt had to leave the house to fetch supplies he came back to find Percival nearly buried under a pile of fur and feathers.

It was adorable. And Newt’s little crush was growing bigger by the hour.

Of course, it wasn’t all sunshine and roses. Percival struggled with the side effects of his potions, sometimes he was so weak he couldn’t walk without help. Sometimes the nausea was so bad he’d spend an hour bent over a bucket as he dry heaved. He had nightmares every time he slept.

But Newt’s presence did seem to help. The problem was, the weekend was swiftly coming to an end and it was painfully obvious that Percival shouldn’t be going back to work yet. He had a good two weeks left of the worst of the potions and several months for a couple of them. He was far from healed physically and not even started at healing mentally.

Sunday night found Newt and Percival in their usual position, curled up together on the couch, listening to the wireless. “Percival, are you planning on going back to work tomorrow?”

He felt Percival flinch against his chest where he was curled up. “I… I don’t know. I should, there is so much to do to clean up the mess G-Grindelwald left. But… but I know I can’t.”

He could barely stay awake for an hour. And when he was awake he was either so weak all he could do was lie down, or so nauseous he couldn’t stray far from the bathroom.

“It’s going to be a long time before I can go back to work, isn’t it?”

Newt sighed and pulled the man he was swiftly falling in love with closer. “Yes, but it’s better for you to take the time to heal.”

“I know. It just… it just feels like failure.”

“Not failure, just taking a sorely needed break. You won’t do anyone any good if you make yourself worse.”

And that was that. Percival sent a message off to MACUSA requesting a couple weeks of sick leave and he got a response almost immediately from the President, reminding him that she had already offered him as much time as he needed and she didn’t know why he’d finally removed his head from his ass but she was glad he finally had.

So Newt and his creatures settled in. Percival got a little better each day and Newt grew a little more attached. At least his creatures were growing just as attached to the older wizard. And Percival, just maybe, was growing attached as well. 

After those first couple weeks, Percival finished the worst of the potions and the worst of the side effect subsided. He knew he should go back to work but suddenly, he didn’t want to. He didn’t want Newt to leave. For most of the past weeks he hadn’t been able to concentrate on much more than not collapsing but he was better now, he wasn’t sleeping all day and eating was no longer a battle. He had time to think about… everything.

And there were so many things he _didn’t_ want to think about. So he shoved them away for now and tried to figure out his feelings for Newt.

Percival wasn’t used to _having_ feelings for anyone. In school he’d never understood the relationships his classmates seemed to fall in and out of on a constant basis. And since then he’d never met anyone that made him want to be close to.

Until now.

So what in the world should he do? A large part of him was screaming to do nothing, that Newt was just a good person looking out for someone and all feelings were purely one-sided. That part of him sounded a lot like his father, demanding he bottle up his pathetic feelings and it made Percival flinch away from the nasty words it spewed.

But there was another, tiny part that thought maybe Newt felt the same. It was the part that remembered Newt holding him so gently when the pain overwhelmed him, or pressed a gentle kiss to his hair as he fell asleep. This fragile little part _hoped_ so fervently that he had a chance with Newt that Percival resisted the darker thoughts for now. He didn’t push Newt away, but he also couldn’t bring himself to do anything about his feelings.

Luckily for him, Newt had just been biding his time. He had planned on courting Percival from that very first day he’d found him huddled and hurting. He was just waiting for Percival to heal enough he had a chance to think about what he wanted. Now that he was much improved Newt just had to find the perfect moment.


End file.
